Daredevil to jump off summit of Mount Everest in wing suit on live television
By Mike Dyce
Felix Baumgartner captivated the world’s attention when he set the world record for skydiving when he dove from space in the Red Bull Stratos project. That historic dive was aired live on YouTube and the Discovery Channel and may have inspired the next televised crazy daredevil diving stunt.
Extreme athlete Joby Ogwyn is planning on diving from the top of Mount Everest in a wingsuit this May. Not only is jumping off the world’s tallest mountain and flying through the air like a bird in a wingsuit, but it will also require him to climb the world’s tallest mountain. Fortunately for Ogwyn, he is a proficient mountain climber having already scaled Everest in nine and a half hours when it usually takes a least three days.
And of course it will be broadcast live around the world as well in may.
“I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard I’m crazy,” Ogwyn told The Telegraph. “But there’s a lot more to this than a crazy person jumping. It will be very well executed, it’s like a shuttle mission in some ways. This is something I dreamed about as a little kid. Everything I’ve done for the last 20 years has been practice for this and now the technology has made flight possible.
“I believe it will be one of the most exciting adventures in the world and I want people to see it. Sure, I’m very scared. Jumping from a mountain is really, really scary, much more so than jumping from a plane. But I’m not afraid to die.”
He added: “Everest is the ultimate, it’s the pinnacle, the biggest stage in the world. I can’t think of anywhere better to make the ultimate mega-jump of all time. I’ve done most of the things I wanted to do and this is the blasting cap at the end.”
The jump will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel and for more information, check out The Telegraph.